A recent survey of more than 1,000 small business owners revealed that 86% consider their accountant a “trusted advisor” — so much so, in fact, that they trust them more than any other advisor (family and friends, lawyers and financial planners).

But the same survey also indicated that only 61% of business owners are satisfied with the breadth of services offered to them by their accountants.

It’s a trend that’s becoming increasingly pervasive across a number of industries, particularly in the financial sector: clients are no longer satisfied with one or two niche services. Instead, they expect comprehensive, even concierge, care from their advisors.

Today’s small business owners are looking for more than bookkeeping and tax preparation from their accountants. Financial and advisory services they’re coming to expect include:

  • Determining or converting a business structure 
  • Budgeting and forecasting
  • Cash flow management
  • Payroll processing
  • Tax planning
  • Business consulting

For accountants, providing additional levels of service to clients certainly requires more effort—in some cases, even upskilling expertise—but it can also drive significantly more revenue.

According to a study conducted by Intuit Accountants, annual fees for tax planning and advisory services are, on average, five times greater than fees for tax preparation.

The best place to get started improving the value you bring to business owners is by helping them understand the value of their business. Without that foundation, you can’t provide sound, comprehensive advice about payroll, gift taxing, cash flow forecasting, budgeting…the list goes on.

Not only is business valuation a necessary starting point for accountants who want to improve the value they bring to business owner clients, but it’s also a low barrier to entry. 

With an accrual basis financial statement, or a tax return and balance sheet information, you can generate an accurate, real-time business valuation using BizEquity’s proprietary software and seven-step process, which harnesses the power of big data to streamline the traditionally tedious, time-consuming and expensive approach to business valuation.

There are several ways to incorporate BizEquity’s business valuations into your service offering. You can:

  • Run a business valuation yourself: Add a white-glove touch to your business valuation services by entering their business data yourself. This gives you the chance to review the valuation data before presenting it to your clients.
  • Run the valuation together: Going through the seven-step process with your clients offers valuable engagement opportunities and opens the door for meaningful conversations about business performance.
  • Send a Smartlink to your clients: Using the link you generate, your clients can go through the seven-step process themselves and enter their information into the BizEquity platform. As their trusted advisor, you still control the delivery of their final valuation report.

Once you and your client understand what their business is worth, you can begin offering the additional tax planning and business consulting services—providing more value for them and driving increased revenue for your firm.

For more information about how BizEquity helps accountants better serve business owners, click here!